Universal dual visor assembly for helmets

ABSTRACT

A universal dual visor assembly for helmets in which inner and outer lenses are supported by a pair of hollow shafts rotatably carried by the helmet and provided with bores of noncircular cross section which slidably receive pushbuttons of corresponding noncircular cross section for axial movement between a shaft locking position at which locking elements thereon selectively engage in spaced recesses in the shaft housing to hold the corresponding shaft in a selected position and a release position at which the shaft is free to rotate. One lens is coupled to one of the shafts for rotation therewith while being free to rotate with respect to the other shaft while the other lens is coupled to the other shaft for rotation therewith while being free to rotate with respect to the one shaft.

D United States Patent 1151 3,636,565

Luisada et al. 1 1 Jan. 25, 1972 54] UNIVERSAL DUAL VISOR ASSEMBLY 3,315,272 4/1967 01m al ..2/6 FOR HELMETS 3,487,470 1 1970 Stapenhlll ..2/6

[72] Inventors: August G. Luisada, Waymart', Joseph A. Primary Examiner-James R. Boler Cianflone, Carbonclale, both of Pa. A norney-Shenier and OConnor [73] Assignee: Gentex Corporation, New York, N.Y 57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: 1970 A universal dual visor assembly for helmets in which inner and [21] Appl. No.: 6,854 outer lenses are supported by a pair of hollow shafts rotatably carried by the helmet and provided with bores of noncircular cross section which slidably receive pushbuttons of c0r- 52] US. (:1 ..2 6 responding noncircular cross Section for axial movement [51] 'f 3/00 between a shaft locking position at which locking elements Field of Search 5, 6, 8, 9, thereon Selectively g g in Spaced recesses in the shaft housing to hold the corresponding shaft in a selected position References and and a release position at which the shaft is free to rotate. One lens is coupled to one of the shafts for rotation therewith while UNITED STATES PATENTS being free to rotate with respect to the other shaft while the 2,283,120 5/1942 Malcolm ..2/8 other lens is coupled to the other shaft for rotation therewith 2,461 ,604 2/1949 Huntsman .t ..2/8 while being free to rotate with respect to the one shaft. 2,798,221 7/1957 Bailey et al. ...2/6 3,239,843 3 1966 Lobelle ..2/6 11 Claims, 7 Drawing gu es PATENTEU JAN25 I972 SHEET 2 0F 2 INYENTORS L u/saaa pk J4. C/anf/ane H u J'os e BY HTTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are known in the prior art various assemblies for supporting a visor on a helmet for movement between a retracted position within the line of sight of the wearer and an extended position at which the visor protects the wearers eyes. It has been further proposed in the prior art that a helmet be provided with two movable visors one of which is clear and the other of which is tinted. Such an arrangement protects the wearers eyes against injury from fragments and the like and protects the eyes from glare.

Different expedients have been employed for supporting the visors and for permitting them to be moved between operative and inoperative positions. For example, in some helmets the visors are mounted on tracks and are provided with knobs which can be moved to slide the visors along the tracks. Some of them rely on friction to hold the visor in adjusted position. While the assemblies of the prior art are more or less effective they embody a number of defects. First, many of them are relatively complicated for the result achieved thereby. Those assemblies of the type employing tracks in which the lenses ride are apt to become fouled along a line of contact, resulting in difficulty in moving them to a desired position. No means generally are provided for positively holding the lens in an adjusted position. The assemblies of the prior art are not as simple to operate as is desired. Most of the assemblies of the prior art are tailored to suit a particular helmet and are not adapted to be applied to a variety of helmets. In addition the visor housing in many cases forms a part of the operating assembly so that as a result of damage to the housing the entire assembly may be rendered inoperative.

We have invented a universal dual visor assembly which overcomes the difficulties of visor-assemblies of the prior art. Our assembly is easily operated with the use of only one hand. It is not subject to fouling along a line of contact. Our assembly is simple in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. It is light in weight. Our assembly is adapted for installation on a wide variety of helmets. The respective lenses of our assembly may selectively be locked in various positions. The outer protective shield of our assembly does not form a part of the operating mechanism for the lenses. It is neat in appearance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of our invention is to provide a universal dual visor assembly which overcomes the defects of visor assemblies of the prior art.

Another object of out invention is to provide a universal dual visor assembly which is adapted to be applied to a wide variety of helmets.

A further object of our invention is to provide a universal dual visor assembly which is easily operated with one hand.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a universal dual visor assembly the lenses of which may individually selectively be locked in various positions.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a universal dual visor assembly which is simple in construction and which is inexpensive to manufacture.

Yet another object of our invention is to provide a universal dual visor assembly which is not subject to line fouling.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a universal dual visor assembly which is durable.

Other and further objects of our invention will appear from the following description.

In general our invention contemplates the provision of a universal dual visor assembly in which a pair of lenses are supported by hollow shafts carried by the helmet, which shafts have bores of noncircular cross section for receiving pushbuttons of corresponding noncircular cross section for movement between shaft-locking positions at which locking elements on the pushbuttons selectively engage in recesses on the shaft support to lock the shaft in selected positions and release positions at which the shafts are free to turn. One of the visors is coupled to one of the shafts for rotation therewith while being free to rotate on the other shaft while the other lens is coupled to the other shaft for rotation therewith while being free to rotate on the one shaft so that the lenses can individually and selectively be moved between retracted and extended positions in response to actuation of the respective pushbuttons and rotation of the respective shafts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings which form part of the instant specification and which are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a helmet provided with our universal dual visor assembly.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of our assembly taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of our universal dual visor assembly taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the locking mechanism of our universal dual view visor assembly taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 4 of a modified fonn of locking mechanism for our universal dual visor assembly.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the left-hand operating mechanism of our universal dual visor assembly taken along the line 66 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the right-hand operating assembly of our universal dual visor assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings our universal dual visor assembly indicated generally by the reference character 10 is attached to a helmet 12 in a manner to be described. The assembly 10 includes a right-hand operating mechanism 14 and a left-hand operating mechanism 16 which respectively position a clear lens 18 and a tinted lens 20, in a manner which will be apparent from the description hereinafter, in retracted positions beneath a shield 22 or in extended positions in front of the wearers eyes. While the clear lens 18 may be made of any suitable material preferably we form the lens from a clear polycarbonate resin which, as is known in the art, has a high impact resistance. The outer tinted lens 20 may for example be neutral gray and may be formed from any suitable material such for example as stretched acrylic resin.

We secure the outer shield 22 to the helmet 12 by any suitable means such for example as by screws 24 or the like which are received in fittings 26 located in the wall of the helmet l2. Respective openings 28 at the sides of the housing 22 permit access to the assemblies 14 and 16. Since the two operating assemblies I4 and 16 are similar we will describe only the assembly 16 in detail. The assembly 16 includes a shaft mounting bracket 30 having a peripheral flange 32 for receiving screws 34 which engage fittings 36 in the wall of the helmet 12 to hold the bracket 30 in position. A hollow shaft 38 extends through an opening 40 in bracket 30. A flange 42 on shaft 38 is retained within the bracket 30. We thread a knob 44 on the outer end of the shaft 38 to pennit the shaft to be turned in a manner to be described.

We form shaft 38 with a bore 46 having a noncircular crosssectional shape to receive a pushbutton 48 having a similar cross-sectional shape so that when shaft 38 turns pushbutton 48 will turn with the shaft. We provide the pushbutton 48 with a plurality of radially outwardly extending legs 50 the ends of which carry bosses 52. We provide the undersurface of the top of bracket 30 with a plurality of recesses 54 adapted to receive bosses 52. A spring 56 located within the pushbutton 48 is received in a spring positioner 58 so as to urge the pushbutton outwardly of the assembly to urge the bosses 52 toward the undersurface of bracket 30. It will be appreciated that with the bosses 52 disposed in the recesses 54 shaft 38 cannot be turned. However, if the pushbutton 48 is moved inwardly against the action of spring 56 to move bosses 52 out of recesses 54 then shaft 38 can be turned by knob 44. While we have shown four radially outwardly extending legs 50 it will readily be appreciated that we might provide only two of such legs for cooperation with the recesses 54.

The normal movement required to shift one of the lenses between its retracted position and its extended position is approximately 90. In the particular embodiment of our assembly shown in FIG. 4 we have provided the pushbutton 48 with four legs 50 spaced at 90 each to the other. Further we form four spaced recesses 54 in the underside of the bracket 30 for receiving the lugs or bosses 52. Thus a positive locking action is provided after 90 of movement of the shaft 38. It will readily be appreciated that after pushbutton 56 has been depressed and the shaft has rotated slightly the button may be released and the lugs 52 engage the portions of the underside of the top of bracket 30 between recesses 54. This frictional engagement preferably is sufiiciently strong that some force is required to turn the shaft 38 to bring the parts into locked positions.

Referring to FIG. 5 we have shown an alternate embodiment of the locking mechanism in which we provide a pushbutton 60 with eight spaced legs 62 carrying lugs 64 adapted to engage in recesses 66 in the underside of the top of the bracket 30. In this embodiment the shaft can be locked in an intermediate position between fully extended and retracted. Again, rather than having eight legs 62 we might use only two or four of such legs.

in the embodiment of our assembly illustrated in the drawings the clear inner lens 18 is carried by a pair of arms 68 the arm 68 at the left hand with a circular opening 72 surrounding the shaft 38 of the assembly 16 so that the clear visor is supported on the shaft but may move pivotally relative thereto.

The tinted outer visor carries at its ends respective arms 74 the right-hand one of which has a circular opening 76 surrounding the shaft 38 of the assembly 14 to permit this to pivot relative to the shaft. The other arm 74 of the tinted lens 20 has a noncircular opening 78 surrounding the shaft 38 of assembly 16 so that as this shaft 38 turns the tinted lens moves with the shaft.

in operation of our universal dual visor assembly with both the lenses l8 and 20in retracted position if the wearer wishes to move the clear inner lens to extended or operative position he depresses the pushbutton 48 of the assembly 14 until the lugs 52 clear the recesses 54. The knob 44 then is rotated through approximately 90 and the pushbutton is released to permit the lugs 52 to reenter the recesses. The clear visor then is locked in its operative position. To restore the visors to housed positions the operations just described are repeated except that the knobs are rotated in the opposite direction. If desired the assembly may be of the type illustrated in FIG. 5 wherein the lens can be locked in an intermediate position. Operation of the tinted lens assembly 16 is similar to that described hereinabove in connection with the clear lens operating assembly 14.

It will be seen that we have accomplished the objects of our invention. We have provided a universal dual visor assembly which overcomes the defects of visor assemblies of the prior art. Our assembly is easily operated by the use of only one hand. The arrangementis such that the lenses may individually and selectively be brought from retracted to extended position and are locked in both of these positions and may if desired be locked in an intermediate position. The danger of line lockup is minimized. Our assembly is simple and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture. it is light in weight.

It Will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details without departing from the spirit of our invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that our invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

l. A dual visor assembly for a helmet including in combination a first shaft, a second shaft, means mounting said shafts on said helmet for movement around an axis, a first visor, means mounting said first visor on one of said shafts for rotation therewith, means mounting said first visor on the other shaft for rotation relative thereto, a second visor, means mounting said second visor on said other shaft for rotation therewith, and means mounting said second visor on said one shaft for rotation relative thereto.

2. An assembly as in claim 1 in which said first visor is formed from clear synthetic resin.

3. An assembly as in claim 2 in which said second visor is formed from tinted synthetic resin.

4. An assembly as in claim 1 in which said shafts support said visors for movement between extended and retracted positions and means releasably locking said shafts in the retracted position of said visors.

5. An assembly as in claim 4 including means for releasably locking said shafts in the extended positions of said visors.

6. An assembly as in claim 5 including means for releasably locking said shafts in a position intermediate the retracted and extended positions of said visors.

7. A dual visor assembly as in claim 1 in which each of said visors is adapted to move between a retracted position and an extended position, said assembly including means for releasably positively locking each of said visors in each of its extended and retracted positions.

8. An assembly as in claim 7 mounting means comprises respective shafts, means mounting and in which said releasable locking means comprises interengageable means on said shafts and on said shaft mounting means and means biasing said interengageable means into engagement.

9. An assembly as in claim 8 in which said interengageable means comprise a pushbutton carried by said shaft for axial movement relative thereto, a boss carried by said pushbutton, means forming angularly spaced boss-receiving recesses in said shaft support, said boss being adapted to engage in one of said recesses in one axial position of said pushbutton and one rotary position of said shaft and adapted to engage in the other recess in said one axial position of said pushbutton and in another rotary position of said shaft.

10. A visor assembly for a helmet including in combination, a visor, means mounting said visor for pivotal movement between an extended position and a retracted position, said mounting means comprising a shaft, a support carrying said shaft for rotary movement, means coupling said visor to said shaft for rotary movement therewith, a pushbutton carried by said shaft for rotation therewith and for axial movement relative thereto, a lug carried by said pushbutton, means forming angularly spaced recesses in said support, said lug adapted to engage in one of said recesses in one axial position of said pushbutton and one rotary position of said shaft releasably positively to lock said visor in its extended position and adapted to engage in the other recess in said one axial position of said pushbutton and another rotary position of said shaft releasably positively to lock said visor in its retracted position, and means biasing said pushbutton toward said one axial position.

11. An assembly as in claim 10 in which said shaft has a central bore of noncircular cross section, said pushbutton has a correspondingly noncircular cross section and in which said pushbutton is located in said bore.

*g gggg UNITED STATES PATENT 0mm:

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,636,565 mud January 25, 1972 Inventor) August G. Luisada and Joseph A. Cianflone It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

respective shafts, means mounting and" should be deleted.

Signed and sealed this 3rd day of October 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD ILFLEICHERJR. ROBERT GOT'I'SCHALK Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

1. A dual visor assembly for a helmet including in combination a first shaft, a second shaft, means mounting said shafts on said helmet for movement around an axis, a first visor, means mounting said first visor on one of said shafts for rotation therewith, means mounting said first visor on the other shaft for rotation relative thereto, a second visor, means mounting said second visor on said other shaft for rotation therewith, and means mounting said second visor on said one shaft for rotation relative thereto.
 2. An assembly as in claim 1 in which said first visor is formed from clear synthetic resin.
 3. An assembly as in claim 2 in which said second visor is formed from tinted synthetic resin.
 4. An assembly as in claim 1 in which said shafts support said visors for movement between extended and retracted positions and means releasably locking said shafts in the retracted position of said visors.
 5. An assembly as in claim 4 including means for releasably locking said shafts in the extended positions of said visors.
 6. An assembly as in claim 5 including means for releasably locking said shafts in a position intermediate the retracted and extended positions of said visors.
 7. A dual visor assembly as in claim 1 in which each of said visors is adapted to move between a retracted position and an extended position, said assembly including means for releasably positively locking each of said visors in each of its extended and retracted positions.
 8. An assembly as in claim 7 mounting means comprises respective shafts, means mounting and in which said releasable locking means comprises interengageable means on said shafts and on said shaft mounting means and means biasing said interengageable means into engagement.
 9. An assembly as in claim 8 in which said interengageable means comprise a pushbutton carried by said shaft for axial movement relative thereto, a boss carried by said push button meAns forming angularly spaced boss-receiving recesses in said shaft support, said boss being adapted to engage in one of said recesses in one axial position of said pushbutton and one rotary position of said shaft and adapted to engage in the other recess in said one axial position of said pushbutton and in another rotary position of said shaft.
 10. A visor assembly for a helmet including in combination, a visor, means mounting said visor for pivotal movement between an extended position and a retracted position, said mounting means comprising a shaft, a support carrying said shaft for rotary movement, means coupling said visor to said shaft for rotary movement therewith, a pushbutton carried by said shaft for rotation therewith and for axial movement relative thereto, a lug carried by said pushbutton, means forming angularly spaced recesses in said support, said lug adapted to engage in one of said recesses in one axial position of said pushbutton and one rotary position of said shaft releasably positively to lock said visor in its extended position and adapted to engage in the other recess in said one axial position of said pushbutton and another rotary position of said shaft releasably positively to lock said visor in its retracted position, and means biasing said pushbutton toward said one axial position.
 11. An assembly as in claim 10 in which said shaft has a central bore of noncircular cross section, said pushbutton has a correspondingly noncircular cross section and in which said pushbutton is located in said bore. 